Arrow Lakes Vineyard Biodiversity

Arrow Lakes Vineyard is located in a unique area of Britsh Columbia not only for its climate but the spectrum of wildlife and insects.

We usually get significant rainfall right up until July which lends to old growth tall cedars. They call this area the interior rain forest and some of the old cedars are hundreds of years if not 1000+ years old with trunks 10-20 feet across. Pockets of theses old cedars can be found from Edgewood all the way to Revelstoke. 

Biodiversity in this area is amazing with the spectrum of wildlife including; moose, elk, mountain cariboo, cougar, grizzly and black bear and more. Our 7' fence keeps the big animals out but one of the unique creatures that make thier home in the rock piles around the vineyard are the northern aligator lizard as seen below. They and the garter snakes are great for keeping the grass hopper populations down. The spiders and preditory wasps also help keep the other insects in check. 

There are giant black 7 inch slugs and toads the size of your hand...not sure how they fit in to the ecosystem, but they are interesting.

We have tried to preserve the natural habitat as much as possible, incorporating the vineyard into it, rock piles included, and the local creatures are enbracing it as much as we are.

Summer 2019 Looking Good

July has not been smokin hot. In fact there has been hardly any smoke and forest fires are down too which is a relief. Its been a bit cooler than the past few years - about 1 degree cooler than average. Still we are on target for a 19c average for the month and thats ok. Lots of rain too and high humidity to go with it. We have not had to irrigate at all and the vines are loving the moisture.

Generally, the cooler temperature and extra moisture brings on the fungus pressure. Think about what happens to a grass lawn when you get several days of rain - the grass loves it but you also get mushrooms popping up like crazy. For grapes this the fungus grows on the leaves and grapes and destroys the crop.  So far no fungal pressure on our vines but most of our vines have some natural fungal resistance.

We have a few vinifera like pinot noir and siegerrebe and they can be impacted by fungus but no sign of fungus yet.

So far fruit set was good, we have great moisture in the ground and no fungus.  Now we could use some normal temperatures and sun for the rest of the season. In particular, we could use the heat in the ripening season in September.

Here is some grapes as of July 19

Castel

Leon Millot

Ravat 34

Evangeline

Marquette

Bloom and Fruit Set 2019

So June was a bit above normal with an average temperature of about 16.7c. Our normal for June  is 15.9c. We have also had lots of rain so the vines are lush and healthy and there are no sign of fungal pressure. 

This brought the vines into flowering around June 20th starting with the Kuhlman varieties and Castel and ending with Evangeline. By the looks of things the fruit set is good. Some photos from June 28 below;

Castel

Marechal Foch

Ravat 34

Evangeline